A short story – When the black bear attacks.

‘When the Black Bear Attacks!’

All he could think of was a documentary on the discovery channel he had watched a few weeks ago ‘When the Black Bear Attacks!’,  those who had survived (of which there were not many) had all agreed the one thing they remembered the most was the strong sweet smell of rotting meat. As the huge creatures lunged at them and their powerful jaws came nearer, the weeks of undigested flesh that clung to the sharp teeth positively accosted their nasal passages.  He giggled; anyone looking on may had thought he had lost his mind laughing at a time like this, and to be honest he probably had, he remembered many things in those few brief moments.

Perhaps it was true, perhaps your life did flash before your eyes as you started that final journey, if it did it was amazingly bad timing and God had obviously made a mistake creating that jewel of an idea, taking his mind off survival to take a sunlight stroll down memory lane. But if you only remembered the good things it wouldn’t be a long walk.

He had been born in a small village to Sam and Liz, his Dad had been the local copper and Liz a school teacher in the primary school that occupied one of the few buildings that was larger than a house. The highlight of the weekend was when he and his friends, known as the benchers because of their habit of haunting the one public bench in the village, would hop on a bus and go into the local metropolis to sit on a different but very similar bench and whistle at the girls walking by.

He felt a wet drip fall onto his forehead but of course couldn’t wipe it off that wouldn’t be wise at all. His mind left his current predicament and shot off at a ridiculous tangent, this time he was walking in the rain along a pebble beach the grey seas were crashing up against the shore. He was wrapped in a soft woollen scarf to protect him from the harsh weather his mouth just cleared the material enough for his breath to escape and play dragons in the crisp winter air. He loved it as a young child when at school they would run around in the playground their jackets tied around their shoulders flapping their arms like strong leathery wings as they dipped and dived flying through the air. Their hot breath creating fiery smoke as it bellowed out of their mouths into the winter skies.

In his gloved hand he held another small delicate gloved hand, warm and comfortable in his grip. The hand sat perfectly at the end of an arm encased in a thick winter coat and was connected to the slender but strong form of Kerri.

Kerri’s thick long hair blew in the wind and rain that filled this particular memory, her red curls glowing against the grey of the day. He knew where this was, this was the day they became official, and once again a smile broke across his face as he thought of how his children now said that official to be truly official, had to be FBO. It took a while before they would share this meant ‘Facebook Official’; FBO was that time in a relationship where you were confident to share it with the world.

The memory of the beach was broken by another drop landing in the small concave area where his eye met the bridge of his nose; he now knew no matter how hard he fought there was no escape. Damn his good eyes if only he was short or long sighted and had to wear correctional lenses he may have been safe. Smirking he knew that even if he did have to wear correctional lenses his own vanity would have made him wear contact lenses so it really would have made no difference. The pain that was starting to appear across his shoulders was a sharp stabbing one that foretold cramps, he had been holding his arms rigid for what seemed like and age and he didn’t know how much longer he could manage it. He asked himself how much longer he could fight, how much longer would he struggle in this battle that was part of a war he had already lost.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes he saw the faces of his two children and heard their laughter as he let his arms drop and almost welcomed the weight that fell onto him. He felt no pain as the creature sunk its yellow teeth into the flesh of his neck and in one powerful bite and tear ending the fight, battle and war all in one.

THE END.